Another Year
by Dragonflys-Girl
Summary: It's another New Year's Eve, and this time, Kate wasn't too happy [Gibbs&Kate]. Somewhat a sequel to New Year's Resolution from last year.


Title: Another Year

Author: Peach

Rating: PG – 13 probably

Genre: Romance Gibbs / Kate

Feedback: PLEASE!

Disclaimer: I won't even have enough to pay for my own attorney, so you probably won't get anything from me even if you sue. Of course, I'm not making money...

Another year's gone. Wishing you the best for 2005.

Kate wants to throw things – anything – and trash the living room. _No_, she decides as she surveys the room, fuming. _What I'll do is throw his cell phone off the roof and then dump all the new ones we have stored for him into the lake._

She is mad, furious to be more exact.

This is New Year's Eve. She has waited for so long for this day to arrive. This is the time to celebrate with the special someone, to enjoy the night in the utmost romantic setting. This is the day Gibbs and she should be celebrating their anniversary.

_Guess he wasn't kidding when he said he doesn't do romance well_, Kate thinks bitterly. There is no other explanation for his behaviour, other than his ineptness in romance. _I mean, how can anyone choose work over their anniversary / New Year's Eve dinner date?_

The throw pillow she has bought to spice up his living room now makes the perfect target for her punching practice. Kate attacks the inanimate object as if it is the worst scumbag on earth – try as she might, she can't make herself think of the throw pillow as Gibbs – that needs to be kick off the face of the Earth.

"Damn you, J," she screams as she punches. Her slip and calling him "J" (because "Gibbs" sounds too much like work and his three ex-wives called him "Jethro" – "You are special to me, and I want you to call me with a name that only you can use") only makes her madder and she increases the force she puts in each punch. She has sworn, earlier, when she received his phone call about having to miss dinner because there's something at work that needs his attention, that she will only call him Gibbs for the rest of the evening to show her displeasure.

Finally, when she stopped, she was considerably calmer. Out of the blue, her eyes well up with tears. This is not how she imagined her first anniversary with the man she loves to be. She has envisioned a romantic evening with candle-lit dinner and a cozy talk by the fire place after dinner that will prelude a much more exciting and loving evening in the bedroom. Now, she is here, alone, in his house, waiting for him like a bitter wife. The dinner she has prepared is now cold on the dining room table. She has blown out the candles earlier and switched the CD from the romantic selection she has put into the stereo earlier to some jazz she found in his collection. The lingerie she brought with the night's activities in mind now packed back into the shopping bag.

Angrily, Kate wipes the lone drop that has managed to escape with her hands.

"Why can't I be more important than your responsibilities for just one night?" she asks the empty living room. Throwing the pillow she attacked earlier back on the couch, Kate moves to clear the room.

There is no point in staying. Gibbs has something that he has to finish something he has started before he can leave, and he probably won't make it back home until the New Year. If she put the food in the fridge right now, they may be able to reheat the dinner and maybe have them for dinner tomorrow night.

When all the food is packaged and all the candles put away, Kate took her bags and closed the door behind her.

The banging on her apartment door makes Kate jump. She has gotten home about an hour and a half ago and has curled up on the couch reading, trying to put the ruined evening out of her mind.

Hoping that whoever at the door will give up when she ignores the banging, Kate goes on reading.

The banging comes again and Kate can hear her neighbour's yelling for the man to stop and threatens to call the police. Sighing and hoping to avoid a scene, she throws the book on the coffee table and opens the door.

"Why the hell are you here?" her self-invited companion barges into the living room and pulls her into a tight hug. "Do you have any idea how worried I was when I found my house empty?"

Touched by his unexpected emotions, Kate tentatively reaches around his waist hold him as well.

"God, I thought something happened to you," he murmurs against her hair, all his fury seems to have subsided at the sight of her. "You're okay, right? Nothing happened to you, right?"

The lump in her throat prevents her from speaking, so she shakes her head instead.

"Why aren't you at my place? I thought we said we would celebrate there?"

"I thought you wouldn't be back tonight," she whispers against his chest. "You said there is something you need to do at the headquarters. I waited, but after an hour, I thought you won't be coming back until late. There's no point..."

"So you left?" Gibbs asks. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

"I was mad," slightly embarrassed, Kate only murmurs.

"Why?" he sounds genuinely befuddled.

"Because you won't even put me above your responsibilities and work for just tonight," she responses. Voicing out the reason makes her mad again, and she starts to pull away from him.

But she is no match for Gibbs' strength, and he holds onto her tightly.

"Listen to me, Kate," he says to the struggling agent. "Listen to me first."

"What's more to listen to?" Kate snaps but stops struggling, knowing she won't win. Truth to be told, she has already forgiven his trespass, but her pride refuses to let go until he's done some serious grovelling. "Your action says it all."

"I was called into the Director's office right before I leave," he continues anyway. "I already had my coat on. Even my cell phone's locked in my desk. But he spotted me and called him into his office."

Hearing that the director's involved, Kate pulls back to look at the man in front of her, "What does he want?"

"He offered me a promotion," Gibbs states flatly.

A grin spreads across her face. A promotion for Gibbs. He certainly deserves one.

"That's good, isn't it?" she smiles warmly, all the previous anger forgotten. With renewed energy, she hugs Gibbs tightly to herself. "Oh, J, that's great news, isn't it?"

Gibbs, however, remains silent. Worried that she has misunderstood his message, Kate lifts her head to look at him, "There's more?"

"It's the office director at Camp Pendleton," Gibbs' voice was void of emotions.

Her bright smile immediately disappears. "You mean, he wants you to transfer to California?"

Gibbs only nods.

Suddenly, Kate feels chilled to the bone. She pulls away from him, needing to put some distance between herself and the man that will very soon leave her.

"When do you leave?" she asks shakily, her eyes on the floor, the coffee table, the television, anything but those piercing blue eyes that she has fallen in love with.

"I don't know yet," comes the reply.

"You don't know?" his answer surprises her, and she looks up to him again. "What do you mean you don't know yet?"

"I told the director I have to think about it first," he answers.

Kate narrows her eyes at his comments. "What more do you have to think about? You deserve that promotion, and that's a great career move. When Morrow retires, you will probably be the next NCIS director."

Gibbs shrugs, "I don't care about the career moves."

"Then what are you thinking about?"

He just stands in front of her in silence and motionless. She waits, facing him, patiently.

"I need to know your answer to one question first."

Suddenly, Gibbs' gaze becomes too intense, and she needs to look away. The countdown in New York, she notices, has already begun. Ten more seconds and they will be in 2005.

"What is it?"

Nine.

Gibbs stands with his head down, his hands in his pockets. Silence again envelops them.

Eight.

"Gibbs?" She prompts. Kate feels like she's racing time. She wants to get this over and not start the New Year with pain.

Seven.

Slowly, Gibbs steps toward her and takes her smaller, colder hands in his large, warm ones.

Six.

She waits, a little impatiently, and when she finally looks into Gibbs' eyes, she is blown away by the emotions she sees in them.

Five.

He takes a deep breath, opens his mouth to speak, then closes it again. He brings Kate's hand to his mouth and kisses the back of her hands softly. "I always love your hands, Katie," he says softly.

Four.

Without another word, he takes something from his pocket and slips it onto her finger.

Three.

Kate gasps when she sees what he has done. The diamond sparkles in the soft glow in Kate's living room. The fit is perfect; the band rests comfortably on her finger. It looks like it belongs. It does belong.

Two.

"Gibbs, are you..." Kate stutters. Her emotions are like a roller coaster ride, from the low trough to high in the clouds.

One.

"Marry me, Katie," he says simply. Not romantic, not poetic, but simply a plea from a man who needs answers.

The balloon in Times' Square explodes and the light that makes up "Happy 2005" shines bright.

They spend the first minute of the New Year in a kiss that sparks fireworks around them.

When they finally break apart for air, Gibbs touches his forehead against hers. "So, is that a yes?"

"Yes," Kate murmurs softly. "I'll see if they have an opening at Camp Pendleton for a field agent. If not, I'll resign and find something else to do there."

A grin breaks out on Gibbs' face and he shakes his head, "We're staying in DC."

"What? I thought ..."

"I'll tell the director I'm not getting the promotions. You're here, Katie, and that's where I want to be."


End file.
